The grounded leader

The current health and economic crisis has revealed the best and the worst in leadership. As I was asked to prepare a webinar for one of our international partners on the topic of "leadership in challenging times", I thought about a list of characteristics and practical tips that I picked from discussions and my experience with what I call "grounded leaders".

Those tips are all linked to resilience - organizational, team-based and individual - a topic worth another article, maybe ? :-)

Knowing very exactly who I am, where my values come from, what emotional state I'm in, what biases I have and how I react to some specific situations can give me a decisive edge in my leadership and relationships to others. Especially during chaotic and uncertain times...

1. Go back one step and check your internal value ranking and the company values: Is this decision consistent with the value framework?
2. Be aware of the impact of seemingly small decisions on company culture and your team member’s perceptions.
3. Targets never have the last word, values do!
4. Always be transparent about what you know and what you don’t, about what you can control and what you can’t, about your strengths and weaknesses.
5. Schedule time every day for “slow thinking”. It should be a conscious effort on your part.
6. When too many conflicting issues arise, take a deliberate time-out to reflect.
7. Consciously congratulate yourself on small steps reached in “fast thinking mode”. Separate those that lead to success from those that are wasting your time and learn from that.
8. Make good use of your team’s expertise in difficult decisions: you are not alone!
9. Become more self-aware about situations that trigger your reactive thinking.
10. Always keep a coaching attitude towards your team. It is even more crucial in times of crisis.

I would summarize grounded leaders as:

Adaptable

Humble

Authentic

Transparent

Any other tips or experiences with grounded leadership? Feel free to share and discuss in the comments!